The New York Mets were considered one of the big winners of last year’s offseason. Despite making a couple of splashes, it didn’t result in them making the playoffs.
Following a fantastic 2024 in which the Mets made the National League Championship Series, they were a team that seemed ready to take another big step forward in the offseason. With the financial ability to go out and make moves, there was a lot of hope that the team was going to take that next step.
Unfortunately, that didn’t end up being the case. The Mets got off to a fantastic start to the campaign, but a horrible second half of the year resulted in them missing the postseason.
Even though the team might not have achieved the success that they would have wanted, a couple of moves they made during the offseason did end up working out well. Of course, the most notable was the singing of Juan Soto.
Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report recently re-graded the Mets’ signing of Soto and gave them a strong grade of an ‘A’.
A Strong First Season for Juan Soto
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The signing of Soto was a massive move for the franchise, not only from a financial standpoint but also because of how it changed the perception of the franchise. Owner Steve Cohen came in and wanted to change things, and beating out the New York Yankees for Soto was a massive win.
It is very rare to see a player of Soto’s caliber become a free agent at the age that he did (26), and the Mets gave him a record-setting 15-year, $765 million deal. Ironically, Soto struggled to start the campaign, while New York got off to such a hot start that they had the best record in MLB as late as June 12.
There were undoubtedly some concerns about the slow start that he got off to after receiving such a large contract, but he really picked it up over the summer. Even though the team struggled during that time, one of the reasons why they remained in the playoff hunt until the end was Soto’s sensational play. Overall, he finished the season slashing .263/.396/.525 with 43 home runs, 105 RBI, and 38 stolen bases; his home run and stolen base totals were career-highs.
Despite some struggles early on, Soto had a really strong first season with the Mets and it certainly wasn’t his fault that the team struggled down the stretch. Even with their failure in 2025, the franchise is fortunate to have a player of his caliber to build around. Now, they need to have another strong winter to help support him going forward.
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